


All the King's Men

by Araceil



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Action, Adventure, Bad Southern Accents, Drama, F/F, F/M, Lunafreya centric, Lunafreya gets her own adventure, M/M, OFC POV, and her own retinue
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-12 12:59:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18011348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Araceil/pseuds/Araceil
Summary: Joining the throng of refugees fleeing Insomnia, Lunafreya is recognised. Constans Praesidium was no Amicitia, but she would be remiss if she allowed her Prince's fiancée to wander unaccompanied and unprotected with the Empire chasing her heels. May the Astrals watch over them.





	1. Chapter 1

The day Insomnia fell, she had been at the park.

Constans didn't much care about the treaty signing in all honesty, she was relieved that it was happening, even if she was suspicious and doubtful it would last long, or that Niflheim would honour their agreements. She was enjoying one of her rare days off, sprawled in the grass, listening to the radio from the burger shack her friend owned behind her on the otherside of the path as the announcer narrated the signing.

And then it all went to shit.

Dissenters started a riot outside the Citadel, setting off bombs, the signing fell through as everyone immediately leapt to the conclusion they were being attacked, weapons were drawn, and then the _Wall went down_.

She remembered staring up in uncomprehending horror, the shimmering sky she had known all her life was suddenly.... gone. As if she had been looking at it through a car window, and stepped outside only to realise those windows had been tinted against the light all along. It looked so different now, so alien.

And then the drop-ships arrived, and the Magitek troopers _poured_ into the streets like a river of oil.

She ran home, but never got there. She may not have been a Crownsguard, but she couldn't just _leave_ people to be massacred in the streets as MTs ploughed through the untrained, civilian masses. As ridiculous as it was, she had been part of a university re-enactment society when she was younger, and she had never really fallen out of the scene when she became a teacher, she still knew her way around weapons and battlefields. This... was not a game though, there would be no time-out call, no 'Man Down' shout to pause the combat, no first aider to see to her if she got hurt. Their weapons were not carefully blunted, and she was not wearing armour.

But she couldn't just _leave_. Couldn't ignore what she saw.

The first MT she spotted chasing a woman, she rugby tackled into moving traffic. Shoulder barging him into the road where a lorry smashed it across the road at high-speed. The woman didn't stop to thank her, she just kept running. It was probably the smart thing to do.

The lorry was totalled, Constans was horrified. She had only intended on shoving the MT away from the fleeing woman, not cause a major traffic accident. She ran over to the lorry to see if the driver was alright, and ended up having to dodge to the side when the MT she barged tried to cut her in half.

She didn't remember how she defeated it. It was all a desperate blur of scrambling backwards, she was fairly sure she ripped the back door of the lorry off, but she also thought she picked it up off the ground? Either way, she used it as a shield, used it as protection as she rammed the MT to the ground, and used it to smash his face to scrap. She snatched its swords, and looked around before running full pelt into a pair of them as they raised weapons on a fallen man. She picked them up off their feet and slammed them into the wall with a crunch of metal and felt her vision flash white with pain as she put all of her weight onto her shoulder. That was going to bruise horribly later, if she hadn't done any other significant damage.

She yanked the shield aside and decapitated them both before turning to the guy. She helped him up, handed him one of the swords and collected another of her own, and they started running.

That had been hours ago. Half a _day_ ago.

She felt grey.

And red. And purple. And just.... _grey_.

Exhausted beyond exhausted as she walked the road leading away from Insomnia, shivering in the early morning chill.

It had been mid-afternoon when the Wall fell. She had been fighting and running since. And now it was morning. She was dull eyed, slow, weighted down by stolen swords and her lorry-door shield now dented, scorched, and smeared with grease and who knew what else. She had nothing but the clothes on her back, and the weapons in her hands as she moved with the flowing tide of displaced humanity, her sweat dry and now cold on her skin, her whole body feeling like a bruise.

So many people.

Where were they all going to go now?

There were no cities in Lucis, nothing like Insomnia. The largest settlement was Lestallum in Eastern Cleigne, practically on the otherside of the continent. And it was barely the size of a single district. Maybe if they spread the people out a little bit over every town and outpost.... it might work.... But how to get them all there safely? Havens could only have so many people on them.

She didn't even have the strength to shiver as a cold wind caressed her skin. She hoped her parents were okay. She... didn't want to doubt, but she didn't have high hopes either.... Her parents enjoyed their cakes as much as she did, but they weren't as active, as capable. She hoped they got out, if only because her father's medical knowledge and her mother's engineering knowledge would be helpful, useful for the other survivors. She didn't want to find out where they were, what happened. They had her phone number. She had her phone on her. She.... if they were alive, they would call, when they could. She didn't.... think her heart could handle it right now if she tried and they just never... never answered.

White caught her eye.

A thin young woman with hair like spun-gold was walking a few paces ahead. Her beautiful dress was torn, her hair dishevelled, and there was ash and dirt up her hands and arms. She.... was Princess Lunafreya. The Oracle.

Constans stared at her as they walked. And then looked at the people around her.

There were no Crownsguard. There were no Kingsglaive.

There were no Tenebrean attendants, nor Niflheim infantry.

She was alone.

A sole survivor perhaps? Why did she walk on her own then?

Constans shivered again as the wind picked up, and twitched when she felt the first pin-pricks of cold on her skin.

It started to rain.

She moved without thinking, still dull and grey and tired, she took three steps forward, slid around a shuffling man, and lifted her shield over the Oracle's head. Her white dress would go see-through in the rain. Startled blue eyes turned to her and she stared back, too tired to care what this beautiful woman must think of her, how filthy, bloody, and bruised she was, this commoner randomly appearing at her side in her personal space.

“Thank you,” the Oracle said after a while.

Constans grunted.

She was no Amicitia, but this was her Prince's fiancée. She would be completely remiss to leave her unattended amidst a natural disaster. Never mind that she was the Oracle.

Heh.... She had played the part of a Knight far too much in those old re-enactment events. She should be embarrassed to fall straight back into those old behaviours around a _real_ Princess.

The rain started coming down heavily, the only sound around them being the endless shuffling of feet, of people sobbing quietly, sneezing or shivering in the cold, the rain bouncing off her lorry-door. Constans didn't say anything, her arm burned from holding the door so high for so long, and her feet _burned_ as she took one agonising step after another. But she still didn't drop her arm, or the shield that was protecting the Oracle from the rain. People shouldn't see the future Queen's underwear.

“We need to get you some new clothes,” she heard herself complaining hoarsely.

“Pardon?” the Princess blurted, looking at her in surprise.

“White goes see-through in the rain,” she grunted dully still not looking at the blonde as they came to a stop at the back of a large crowd. “There must be a blockade,” she muttered. They had walked further than she realised. There was only the Leide blockade along this road, which, with the Fall of Insomnia, meant that it was no longer in Crownsguard control but Niflheim control. And it was _unlikely_ they were going to allow any citizens to escape. It was _also_ unlikely that they wouldn't be be searching through any and all survivors to find the Princess. “We need to move,” she murmured digging into her brain for something – _anything_ that would be useful. She was so tired...

“There must be a way around,” the Princess murmured, frowning as she looked around.

Constans turned her head to the side, and grimaced. “Crestholm Channels. Look,” she muttered, pointing to a maintenance building not too far away. She never thought she would ever see it in person after watching that documentary every summer with her third year class when covering their Leide module, it was that same damn maintenance building they used to access the channels in the documentary, she would recognise those warning signs on the door anywhere. She only saw them every year for the last ten. “We can go under the blockade with this, but we'll need to cross the gorge on the surface.”

Lunafreya nodded slowly, “Crestholm. It is a water-purification plant, yes?” she mused.

Constans nodded dully, “Closed down. Daemon infested. We should rest before trying – ” Lunafreya ignored her, purposefully abandoning the raised shield in order to march towards the maintenance building. She didn't look back, and neither did Constans as she plodded along after her.

She was frowning at the lock on the door, patting her hair down, probably looking for a pin or something to pick it because – well, if you were a Princess under Empire captivity, picking locks was probably the kind of skill you learned in order to survive, or at least get some internet access without being questioned why. Sometimes a girl just wanted to look up a good stain removal strategy before she threw her clothes in the laundry to be cleaned by someone else – or so she liked to imagine.

Constans caught her shoulder and gently steered her to one side. Her arms ached, her shoulders burned, but her body obeyed as she hauled her shield up over her head and brought the edge down on the side of the lock. Literally smashing it from the handle of the building with brute force.

Luna made a quiet sound of surprise and swiftly began to unchain the door.

“Thank you, Miss,” she said as she jerked the door open, turning and smiling kindly at her. Constans stared dully at her and lifted a hand to stop her from speaking further.

“I'm no Amicitia, Princess,” she stated watching as she straightened up, her eyes widening. Ah. She hadn't realised she had been recognised. And really, that was a smidge foolish for a woman that certainly didn't strike her as such. She was wearing the same very lovely dress that she had _arrived_ to Insomnia in. The one that was televised across the city. Honestly, Constans was surprised that no one else had actually recognised her. “But I'm not going to let you walk into a Daemon nest on your own. Besides. You don't have a light. And I doubt that dress came with pockets,” she said slowly even as she rummaged into her own jean pockets for her little LED key-chain charms. She liked collecting them, and usually had at least six on her keys at any given time. Her fingers were clumsy with exhaustion, but she managed to work the majority of them off from her housekeys, her useless house keys that she was unlikely to ever use again. Fuck. No, she needed to _not_ think about that right now. Or ever. She gave the Princess her blue chocobo. “It chirps when its turned on. But if you use the switch instead of the button, it stays lit.”

Luna pushed the button and the chocobo chirped even as its eyes lit up almost blindingly. She made a noise of discomfort, looking away and blinking rapidly.

“They're advertised as being anti-Daemon lights as well, but I doubt it,” the Insomnian said softly even as she stuffed the rest of her keys back into her pocket. She unscrewed the magnet cover for her Malby charm and fastened it to her shield, clipped another one to her belt-loop, and another to the collar of her top.

“Really?” Lunafreya asked almost breathlessly, “I did not think that Insomnia suffered such things though.”

“They don't. People are still scared of what might go bump in the night though. I just think they're cute,” she admitted, not in the least bit embarrassed as she forced the door open and rehefted her shield back up, grimacing against the way her muscles complained.

“You should remain here, with the others from Insomnia,” Lunafreya told her. “My journey will not be easy, and it will be fraught with danger.”

Constans turned to stare dully at her, “Really. You tell me that now? You realise you're now _never_ going to be rid of me, right? You're my Prince's fiancée, and you're also the Oracle.”

She grimaced as she realised her misstep, “Where-ever I go, the Empire will surely follow,” she tried again.

“Good. I have some _pointed_ words for them,” the Insomnian declared, patting her stolen MT sword before looking the Princess dead in the eye, “I'm coming. Like I said. I'm no Amicitia, but I'm better than nothing. One woman travelling alone draws attention. A pair? Less noteworthy.” Lunafreya opened her mouth to protest again and Constans just shook her head and stepped into the maintenance building, “You're the Princess of Tenebrae, your Highness.” She threw a tired smirk at her in the darkness, “I don't _have_ to do as you tell me. So I'm sorry to say, you're a bit stuck with me for now.”

Lunafreya sighed, still looking conflicted, “Then I am in your care. Thank you. I – I would like to know the name of my protector, if I may?”

“Constans. Constans Praesidium. I'm a History teacher, or, I _was,_ ” she corrected with a grimace and tried not to think about it, she was too tired to think about it, and she would need her wits about her in Crestholm. It was dark and abandoned. Undoubtedly it would be crawling with daemons. These kinds of places _always_ were.

“A teacher?” Lunafreya echoed in surprise, looking her up and down with such a polite shade of disbelief Constans had to laugh a little. Yes, she hardly looked the part of a stuffy history teacher. For one, she was only thirty. She had typical Insomnian powder fine dark hair and pale skin with large dark blue eyes, but unlike most Insomnians who were very image conscious, she was chunky. Shorter than Princess Lunafreya, and broader by half, she had a sturdy build and the muscle of someone who was used to a lot of physical activity and heavy lifting, and the added padding of someone who really liked their food. She wore a regular pair of jeans, her safety shoes – it was her day off and they had the comfy arch-supports she used for events, and her dark grey 'Crown City University Re-enactment Society' t-shirt under a dirty blue Zuu hoodie. She didn't know how she looked otherwise, but to Lunafreya, she seemed a fright. Her hair was sweaty and frizzing out unattractively, her face was splashed with blood and she had a dirty grease up her left cheekbone and a split bloody lip. Her clothes were filthy, dotted with blood, MT-oil, dirt, and ash. Her knuckles were scraped bloody, and her posture was slumped with exhaustion, her eyes were dull, and her face practically drained of all colour beyond the filth stuck to her skin.

Constans grunted in amusement as she gestured the Princess inside, closing the door firmly behind her. The two gave their eyes some time to adjust to the darkness and the glow of the keychain lights before they peered down the access shaft. There were no lights on down there. It was pitch black. The two exchanged a look before Constans rummaged a keychain light from her pocket, turned it on, and dropped it down.

The startled howl of daemons took them almost by as much surprise as the now _apparently_ well advertised keylight took them by surprise.

“Me first,” Constans stated and swung herself down, gripping the sides of the ladder in both hands and positioning her feet carefully – she slid down the rungs like she used to as a little girl, and gripped hard to slow her momentum, hitting the ground, bending her knees to absorb the shock even as she whirled around and drew her stolen sword.

The Hobgoblins around her were too busy shrieking and scattering at the light from her keychains to try and attack, their skin smoking and blistering in the light as they fled.

“The light, it hurts them,” Lunafreya realised as she reached the ground behind her and picked up the fallen charm.

“Guess I need to write them a nice Moogle review,” Constans decided as she hesitantly began walking, keeping her eye on the daemons as they cringed away, Lunafreya moving a little bit closer to her, holding the keychain tightly.

Their trip was remarkably quick and painless with the charms in hand, Constans did not sheath her sword though, just in case. Eventually they found their way to another ladder that lead upwards, and Luna forced it open, nearly blinding them both with the sudden flood of bright grey-white light from the sky overhead, and the rain overhead. They quickly left Crestholm and found themselves in a ruined building just on the otherside of the blockade – well, more in the middle of it but on the Leide side.

Lunafreya peered through the bars and made a soft sound of disappointment before crawling back down, heedless to the damage she was doing to her lovely dress. “There is a line of soldiers and one of their mechs up ahead,” she whispered, and then eyed her before shaking her head in frustrated upset. Yeah there was no way that Constans could take them out herself. Her shield wasn't even bullet-proof, it was just a slab of metal she used to protect her squishy bits from damage while fighting MTs. There wasn't a hope of a snowman surviving a hike through Ravatogh she could protect herself from missiles using it.

She sighed and then, carefully, she pulled her arm out of the straps she had attached to the shield to keep it on her arm, and then carefully set it against the wall so it wouldn't fall and clang drawing attention to them. She stripped out of her hoodie and shoved it at the Princess as she began to rub her angrily bruised arms.

“Put it on before you catch your death,” she ordered before taking a careful look around the place. It was a mark of how cold the Princess was that she didn't even try to protest as she pulled it on and zipped it up, practically huddling in the consuming blue fabric.

She peered up and around the structure before grasping the bars separating their tiny space from the gorge and hauled herself up to peer along the underside of the road, and nodded. Looked like it was still clear.

“Did you see a way?” Lunafreya asked as she dropped down.

Constans nodded, “Can't believe Crownsguard didn't close it down yet,” she grunted as she went to her shield and braced it against a different wall.

“What do you mean?” the Princess asked, watching her in bewilderment, shivering a little as the wind kicked up around them.

“My ex. He was an illegal. Snuck past the border into the refugee camp. Everyone thought the blockades were unbreakable, so he just hid under a truck until they were in the Crown City. He told me how he snuck in through Ostium under the bridge,” she explained as she tested the position of the shield before gesturing to the Princess. “Okay, I want you to climb this, hop that fence, and get to the large duct right in front of you.”

She nodded, “Right,” she agreed before rolling her sleeves up and wetting her lips as she took three steps back.

She was light, and surprisingly athletic as she took a run up, jumped lightly on the angled shield and managed to get over the spiked railings and onto the broken stonework just on the otherside. Even with highheels, she was a hell of a lot more graceful than Constans could ever be, she got to the duct without incident and knelt down to wait for her.

She took a run up and did the same – her greater weight however, made the door shriek and buckle, falling with an ear-splitting clatter as she gracelessly scrambled onto the stonework, and then slid down to the duct where Luna was watching with large eyes. She slid even further, down into the gap between stone and metal, a sheer drop beneath her into the heart of the gorge, Constans braced her feet against the metal, her back to the stone, and stopped in place. She gestured to the Princess to get down there, and as soon as the blonde was within reach, she grabbed hold of her and dragged her down on top of her, out of sight. Using her body as a platform for the young woman as a group of MT's immediately came clattering down the stairs to investigate the sound.

The two of them remained tense and silent, unseen, as they heard the machines clicking and whirling, their metallic footsteps exploring the area, followed by the sound of the passage into Crestholm being slammed shut – and their footsteps leaving.

Carefully, without a sound, Luna climbed off of Constans and back onto the duct. It was a bit hairy for the Insomnian to follow suit, she had braced herself in such a way that she needed more flexibility than she technically _had_ to free herself. But an eight-hundred foot drop was good motivation not to fuck up, so she carefully got one foot under herself, wriggled up into a sitting position against the stone, and then threw herself forward, catching the metal edge under her arms and struggling up onto the ducting, Luna grabbing handfuls of her shirt, and then her belt to help pull until they were both on the duct, panting and breathing sighs of relief.

As quietly as they could, the two women crawled the length of the ducting, Luna being okay to do so on her hands and knees, but Constans – being much heavier – needed to go on her belly and practically commando crawl, spreading her weight out as much as possible to prevent the sound of the metal denting beneath her.

But eventually, the two managed to get past the blockade, and using the MT-swords that Constans had kept hold of, they were able to work a hole in the chainlink fence big enough for them to squeeze through on the other side.

“We made it,” Lunafreya breathed as they stepped out into Leide proper.

Constans rubbed her arms, “Yeah. Now for the easy bit,” she said, drawing a confused glance from Luna, “Just gotta find a Haven for the night.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket to show the Princess it was pushing on four o'clock in the afternoon. It would be coming to sunset soon. “If memory serves, Brackham Haven is just over there. There's also Palmaugh Haven on the otherside of the base.”

Lunafreya turned her head to stare at the large cast-concrete prefab military base not too far away. Nilfheim bases were often made in pre-fab chunks so that all one needed to do to put it up was air-drop the bricks into position and viola. One base, sans buildings. They would arrive in two hours with the next round of drop-ships. In all, to get a fully operational base, it took just about a week for Niflheim to set it up with MTs, who could work through the night without tiring and didn't need many facilities.

“Palmaugh. We would be cutting it fine, but it would be easier to sneak past in the bad weather,” the Princess decided.

Constans nodded, and tried not to let her disappointment particularly show.

It was a pleasantly quiet walk. There were no fiends in this area, so the two were unaccosted as they walked along the road past the first Haven, only just beginning to glow in the encroaching sunset. It was easier to walk without the shield weighing her down even if it had served her well in the escape from Insomnia.

They just reached Palmaugh as the sky turned orange, climbing the steep walk-way up onto the platform as the sky rained itself out.

The two women practically collapsed onto the flat surface, and Constans rummaged into her pockets for her ever useful set of keys, never so glad that she had ignored the teasing of her friends as she unclipped her little flint-lighter. She didn't smoke, she just thought it was cool when Lacertus showed her his own one. And since she did all those events where, to be honest, keeping a tinder-box was a pain in the ass, she got one of these instead.

The only problem was the fireplace was sodden, and none of the wood would light.

The two exchanged looked, Lunafreya concerned, Constans resigned.

“Absolutely no disrespect or dodginess implied, Highness, but Leide gets cold at night,” the Insomnian pointed out softly.

“I... know...”

“You're in silk.”

Lunafreya sighed, her eyes falling shut. “Yes I am.”

“We're going to have to snuggle to stay warm.”

“What!” she spluttered, staring at the other woman in shock.

Constans shrugged, “I can't start a fire with wet wood. You've got my hoodie, but you're also wearing silk, Princess. And we're both soaking wet. I get that you're uncomfortable, I am a complete stranger, but you're so tiny, you'll probably either get sick or die.” Lunafreya stared at her, so completely bewildered that had she not been so tired she'd have probably tried a bit harder to reassure her, as it was all she could muster was to take the MT sword from her belt and hand it over to her, “If you're scared, feel free to stab me. Girls aren't really my thing, not physically at least, but I get you might be uncomfortable with a stranger.”

The Princess suddenly started to laugh, having to put her face into her hand as she waved away the sword, “I – I am sorry, I'm sorry,” she laughed, tears rolling down her cheeks as she knelt down. “I just never, I never thought this – I am a little overwhelmed by your kindness, Constans Praesidium.”

The teacher shrugged a shoulder, “I think it's called 'practicality', to be honest,” she corrected as she set the sword to one side.

Lunafreya continued to giggle as she reached out to grasp her forearms, leaning forward and pressing her forehead against Constans, a warm golden light filling the air. “I feel remiss... not returning the favour sooner,” the Oracle breathed as all the pain and aches, the bone deep exhaustion, and the _burn_ of muscles pushed to the point of tearing and feet with blisters long popped and bloody, all melted away with soft warm light that left her shivering and gasping, and strangely bereft as it faded, leaving the world almost grey and empty as she withdrew.

“Wh-what?” she croaked in disbelief, her eyes dropping down to their joined hands as the Princess sat back on her heels, the black and purple mottled bruises up her arms gone. Faded to nothing.

She looked up in shock as Lunafreya smiled warmly, a strange kind of weight in her eyes, a wisdom that didn't belong in a face so young, “A thank you I should have given you a good while ago,” she said before she unzipped the hoodie she had stolen and slipped out of it, “Here. Put it on.”

Too bewildered to argue, and slightly.... intimidated despite herself, she did as she was told, but before she could zip it up, the Princess turned in place, and quite shamelessly sat herself down in Constans's lap and got comfortable.

“Oh, you are quite right. This is much warmer,” she agreed briskly as she caught both of Constans's arms and brought them up around her, adjusting the opening of the hoodie to wrap around her a little more securely.

It took her a moment of bewildered blinking before she just shrugged, rearranged her limbs slightly so they'd _both_ be a little more comfortable, and leaned with her back against the rock behind them and pulled her hood up against the chill.

“We're gunna have to go shopping when we reach an outpost,” she mumbled, exhaustion already weighing her down.

“Do we have any gil?” Lunafreya asked softly from her collarbone.

“I can sell some of my keychains. Make a mint with the right buyer outside of Insomnia,” she murmured sleepily.

She didn't hear Lunafreya's reply, she was out.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Dawn broke across the horizon, and Lunafreya woke with it.

She was sore, and hungry, and bruised, her legs and feet were freezing, and there was a crick in her neck, but otherwise she felt warm. She was curled up in Constans' lap, her head tucked into the older woman's neck, strong arms wrapped loosely around her waist holding the edges of her hoodie shut against the chill, Luna's shoulder tucked into her side as she practically curled into a ball between her legs. She would normally try to find the grace to at least be embarrassed by her current position, but right now, it was perhaps the most pleasant wake up she'd had since she had failed to escape Fenestala manor over a week ago.

And as tempted as she was to try and slip away, she felt.... that it would have been cruel, to Constans, who had tried so hard to help and protect her even though it wasn't her duty, even though, as she quite rightly reminded her, she wasn't _her_ Princess. She shifted and sat up, shivering as she moved away from the warm cocoon of the woman's arms, carefully adjusting the hoodie closed again. Let her sleep a while longer. She had been exhausted yesterday when they met, and she had never once complained even while guiding Lunafreya through the darkened chambers of Crestholm Channels, and even finding them a covert means over Ostium Gorge.

The Oracle stretched in the early morning light, her feet aching horribly as she stood and looked around them in the growing light. There was no sign that anyone had even passed them in the night, and with the sun beginning to rise it looked as though today were going to be very hot indeed, as was typical for Leide.

She sighed and sat herself down on the edge of the Haven, taking her shoes off to rub her aching feet back into some semblance of life. Constans continued to sleep behind her, the kind of bone-weary sleep that she was loath to interrupt. But they truly needed to get moving. The longer she tarried, the greater the chance of the Empire catching up to her, and they would not hesitate to take her companion hostage, or outright kill her.

She rubbed her feet absently, digging her thumbs into the arch of her foot and vigorously working them in circles as she thought.

She needed to get to Duscae.

Noctis would have to form covenants with the Astrals, receive their blessings as the Chosen King. As the Oracle it was her duty to facilitate this. However, with the Empire on her heels, it would be dangerous for her to even go near him. She would have to awaken and convince them _for_ him so that when they called to him, he would already have their favour. This she could do with Titan and Ramuh. But for Ifrit who was long dead, and Shiva who joined him more recently, she didn't know what to do. Leviathan would possibly be their biggest obstacle as she _loathed_ humanity with a passion enough to drown cities should the fancy take her.

Bahamut would meet Noctis within the crystal and mete out his judgement there. But only once he had the Covenants of the others.

She began to work on her toes, eyes lidding as she heard the faint pop of her toe joints as she bent them under one hand and worked her thumb across their base with the other.

Ramuh would be closest, and unguarded. However.... The moment Niflheim realised what she was planning, they would crack down on all known Astral locations – she would never get close.

Titan had to be first.

The Archean was already watched by Niflheim, she would need to sneak past them while their guard was low – for now, they would continue to search through what survivors of Insomnia made it out of the city for her. Her heart went out to those poor people, displaced from their homes, and now adrift in a world so different from what they knew, with dangers that plagued them like monsters under their childhood beds, now confronted with the truth of the war that they had _lost._ But right now, their predicament was an unexpected boon that she felt guilty down to the bottom of her heart for thinking to take advantage of.

Constans groaned behind her, inhaling deeply as she woke.

Blue eyes squinted open blearily, flinching from the growing light before she rolled her head to the side and spotted Lunafreya. She paused for a long moment, and the Oracle watched the exact moment when the young woman _remembered_. Her breathing hitched in that horrible herald of wretched tears before she sucked in a deep breath, her whole face screwing up as she clenched her teeth and drew her knees up. She held it, pressing her forehead into her knees, before breathing out slowly, and uncurling.

Lunafreya swallowed against her desperate desire to offer her sympathies, her compassion, her apologies. None of them would change anything, and she doubted they would be appreciated as the Insomnian woman was trying so hard to scrape together the tattered edges of her self-control.

Instead, she faced away to give her some privacy as she struggled, and finally marshalled herself.

“....morning,” the teacher finally said, her voice rough and scratchy.

“Good morning, Constans Praesidium,” Luna said, carefully putting her shoes back on.

The teacher groaned as she stretched, “Just Connie is fine, Princess,” she grunted, joints popping audibly.

How was she to broach this subject, would Constans even agree to come with her? Lunafreya waffled indecisively for a time as she listened to the sound of the older woman struggling to her feet and rubbing some warmth back into her arms and legs. It would be unfair of her to drag this woman with her on her quest to awaken the Astrals. She was a _teacher_ , not a warrior, people like her would be needed in the coming years, after the trials, when they rebuilt the world. Did she have the right to take one of those building blocks of the future, and put her in harm's way? She could do it, alone, save for Gentiana, Pryna, and Umbra. That was within her abilities. Ravus made sure she always knew how to defend herself, never quite able to trust Niflheim after the first time he witnessed her on the floor, her face bruising, as she desperately scrambled away from the looming figure of Besithia in front of her. Those times he couldn't be by her side, when he did not trust Gentiana – the messenger of otherwise apathetic gods, or so be felt – to protect her, he taught her to protect herself.

“If memory serves, there's good fishing back at Crestholm if you want breakfast,” the teacher said as her boots crunched on the stone beside her, “But if we want to get to Longwythe before nightfall, we should make a move soon.”

Lunafreya craned her head up, “I need to go to Duscae,” she explained softly, making the teacher pause .

She folded her arms and rubbed her chin thoughtfully, “Closest route to Duscae would be the blockade near where Keycatrich is. Or was. There's three havens on that route so we won't be caught out after dark either. That'll take us out near Astor Slough and the Nebulawood. There won't be any settlements until we _get_ to Duscae though. I can probably forage some edibles along the way, but do you think you're up to a hike like that?” she asked giving Luna's already rather sorry-for-themselves heels a dubious look.

She sighed and got to her feet, “I will have to be, will I not?” she asked rhetorically as she straightened her shoulders.

Her protector huffed a smile, “I suppose we _both_ will,” she agreed before going to collect her stolen swords. “Maybe we'll get lucky and meet a few local hunters along the way who are willing to trade for supplies.” And Luna tried not to be breathless with gratitude.

The two picked their way down the incline and made their way back to the road. It was a beautiful day, flawless blue skies, a warm sun overhead baking the cold of the night from their bones, no sign of the Empire around them as they walked, only the distant buzzing of insects going about their lives, the occasional rustle of small wild-life in the undergrowth, the cry of a distant bird.

Connie eventually shed her hoodie, tying it around her waist as they walked in near silence.

“Okay, the silence is bugging me now,” Constans complained with a sigh as they continued walking, “What's Tenebrae like? I've only read about it and its history, it sounds absolutely beautiful though,” the teacher asked.

 _That_ was a subject Luna could talk about for hours, she loved her home country, all the people there, the beautiful floating mountains, the magic that saturated the world, the verdant paths between sheer rock and the flowers that carpeted the fields, the way if you ventured deeply into the caves it wasn't _daemons_ you found, but the walls themselves aglow with plants and animals, the rocky crags glimmering in the darkness like a night-sky carpeted with flowers. The waterfalls that filled the air with sound and life, the beautifully coloured fish that darted in and out of the sunbeams like shooting stars of silvers and whites. How _green_ the air tasted after a storm, and the sky turned pink and orange in the setting sun.

And then they reached a junction – and an outpost.

Connie stared at it in bewilderment, “My records must be out of date,” she decided after a while of confused staring, and then she grinned at the Oracle, “Looks like you won't be having to make that hike in heels, or at all if we get lucky,” she added.

The two walked onto the property, a large sign cheerfully naming the place as 'Hammerhead'. A camper van was set to the far left of the property, a bright and friendly looking family diner next to it that was fairly busy by the look of it, so it must have had good food. Something that made both Luna and Connie's stomachs grumble demandingly. There was a large store that looked to be full of everything they needed, a Cutlass weapon's van, and a busy machine-shop manned by an older man and a pretty blonde woman wearing.... not an awful lot. Connie eyed her tanned skin enviously. Bet _she_ never got sunburn even with that outfit.

Lunafreya suddenly made a noise of realisation, “This is.... I know of this place. The gentleman in the reclining chair is one of King Regis's old travelling companions from his youth. He showed me pictures when I was a young girl of them on their journey,” she explained almost excitedly.

Not much about the King's pilgrimage in his youth was known to the masses, Connie had done a little research into it as a university student, but there was scant little to be found by unofficial channels – if one wanted to know things like that, they had to petition the Citadel and the Royal Family. Thus far, everyone had been rejected and assured that information would be released when it was no longer sensitive to do so. Now it looked as though that knowledge had died with the city itself. She tried not to be bitter, but it was difficult, and the pain of losing her home was so fresh it struck her hard enough to steal the breath from her lungs.

She had to stop and take a moment to swallow it down, by then, the Princess had already gone directly to the old man and started speaking to him.

“Y'all okay there? Y'look....” the blonde woman in the hot-pants and midrift revealing top trailed off with a grimace of concern.

Connie grimaced herself, “It's been a bad few days. You with him?” she asked, nodding to the old man who was still talking to Lunafreya.

The woman beamed, “Sure am. Pawpaw owns this here place, an' I run it. Name's Cindy, pleasure t'meet'cha,” she declared, sticking a hand out.

She took it, “Constans. Call me Connie. Nice to meet you too.” She had rough hands, a little too hot to the touch, and they were tacky with oil and dust. Good, honest, working hands.

“How're y'finding it out here, city-slicker?” she asked cheerfully as she lead the way to a more shaded area.

“I'll let you know when I've seen more than a blockade and a dusty road,” the teacher said, about as dry as the desert around them. “You wouldn't happen to know anyone I can trade some tech with around here, would you?” she asked with an awkward roll of her shoulders, “We need some money, but all we've got is my keychains to trade, and I'm the only one with a weapon so hunting would be a bit hazardous.”

Cindy's face was a picture, “Little _odd_ t'go runnin' around without nawt,” she pointed out suspiciously.

“Not if you just got out of Insomnia.” Cindy winced, immediately looking apologetic. “Don't worry about it. The blockades have stopped a lot of the refugees, it isn't surprising that you wouldn't have realised. But it doesn't change the fact that we need to get to Duscae, and we need to get some supplies.”

“Well....” she trailed off, “I don't know what _keychains_ 'll fetch y'all, but I'm sure there's sum collectors who'd be interested in... items from the Crown City,” she said hesitantly.

Constans dug out her light charms, “And if they're Daemon repelling at the same time? How much would that bump the price up?” she asked, only to have the charm snatched out of her hands by the blonde woman who was immediately giving it her full attention.

“Daemon repellin', _really_? This lil thing?”

Connie nodded, “Yes. Got us through Crestholm Channels without incident.”

Cindy pushed the little button and then swore when she blinded herself, the little chocobo making a mocking chirp as she did so. The teacher snorted a little in amusement, delicately retrieving her keychain from the younger woman's hands as she blinked rapidly to clear the light-blotches from her sight.

“I'll give y'all thirty thou fer it,” the blonde woman blurted as she shook her head clear and faced her full on.

Connie did a quick calculation. The Crown City used a different currency from the rest of Lucis, gil was the name of the game out here but thankfully it was an easy conversion to make – even if it did make her choke a little to be offered so much for a _keychain_ charm. Part of her wanted to refuse the ridiculous offer, the other pragmatically pointed out that right now, it was probably worth _more_ , and whether she liked it or not, they needed the money.

“....Done,” she finally agreed. She had six more of them, it wasn't much of a loss in all honesty.

“I'll be right back!” Cindy exclaimed before she turned on heel and raced back into the machine-shop, startling her 'Pawpaw' and Luna out of their conversation. They glanced over at her and just as quickly returned to whatever it was they were talking about. With thirty thousand gil, they'd be able to afford weapons for _both_ of them, and the camping supplies they needed. No need for cooking equipment, Constans hadn't cooked anything more complicated than cup noodles and toast for almost a decade, she hoped Luna wouldn't mind.

She examined the weapons on offer at the Cutlass van in the mean time, there were a number of quite nice weapons, the broadswords were of particular interest to her. Shame they didn't have lances – however, she couldn't use both a lance and a shield in fiend combat so it was somewhat moot anyway. The line of the Oracle were well known for their Tridents, Lunafreya should know how to use a lance at the very least, and if she didn't, Connie could teach her, though she did prefer the idea of the younger woman being armed with a gun instead. It would put her out of harm's reach and keep her out of the thick of combat.

The weapons were cheap as well, just basics, she had seen better on offer at festivals but had no room to be picky right now. If this was all that this particular van had on offer, then it would have to do until they reached Duscae where the greater flora allowed for more prey-beasts and thus larger predators.

She asked the vendor to set aside the War Sword and the Cocytus handgun – the two together would set her back only three hundred gil, which was insanely cheap as she could have expected to pay a thousand for them, each, at a festival back in Insomnia. There was a shield as well. But that.... it was beautiful, large, and the tag attached to it read off an impressive list of benefits – halving darkness for a start, bolstering vitality, and given the alloys, it had a greater possibility for offence than even the War Sword. But it was ten thousand gil. A third of what she was getting selling her keychain.

But a _shield_. A decent shield that wasn't stolen, literally, off the back of a lorry.

She would need to talk it over with Lunafreya. Though she had a sinking impression the young Oracle would inform her that it was her money to do with as she pleased. Royals, ffff, so concerned with not insulting one another they couldn't simply tell someone to their face that it was a stupid ass decision.

Connie scruffed a hand through her filthy hair before making her way into the Mini-Mart to look at the prices in there. There _might_ be some wriggle room in their finances for the shield. _**Might**_.

Most food-stuffs were under a hundred gil, potions were only fifty, hi-potions at a hundred, while Elixers were on four-hundred. Well, Lunafreya had her healing magic, so they shouldn't need _too_ many of them, though she made a mental note to get a number of them _anyway_ just in case Luna went down and she needed to administer something a little more heavy handed than general first aid. She went through checking everything and adding the prices up on her phone, grimacing now and then as she compared cheap low quality items to somewhat more expensive but higher quality ones. Having to keep reminding herself that they would be _walking_ to Duscae, so they couldn't be over-burdened otherwise Lunafreya would likely collapse before they got there, and as physically strong as Connie was from years of running around in full-plate armour, she couldn't carry two lots of camping gear _and_ a young woman.

“Y'all look like yer havin' fun,” Cindy observed sarcastically from behind her.

Connie hiss-gasped, fumbling the tin of travel mints in her hand and the packet of fudge in her other as she weighed up which would be more effective for quick energy boosts and easier to store in the long run, almost dropping them both and having to quickly clutch them to her chest.

The mechanic laughed as she turned to glower at her, “Sorry! Ah didn' mean t'startle y'all!” Cindy exclaimed dirty hands held up in surrender, thick black wallet hanging from a cord loop off her thumb.

Connie sighed deeply and put both items back on their shelves, before making a quick mark down on the price of the mints in her phone, “It's okay. I guess I'm still jumpy,” she admitted rubbing her face as she turned her screen off and shoved it back in her pocket.

Cindy's expression became sympathetic, “Shucks, sorry, ah hadn't thought o'that. Here, all thirty thou, as promised. An' ah even threw in a lil' extra fer yer troubles. Ah know how useful that lil' thing would'a been out here, can't imagine partin' with it t'be honest, but y'all must be desperate,” she decided with a sheepish rub to the back of her head as Connie collected the black wallet and unzipped it, eyes checking the contents and widening at the extra five thousand inside.

“I can't accept – that's – ” she spluttered before taking a deep breath, no, she _needed_ the money, her and Lunafreya both. “Thank you, Cindy. I – you have _no idea_ how – thank you,” she finished, unable to truly express how much it meant.

With this she could afford the shield, all of their camping equipment, food, items, weapons, and have money left over to rent a chocobo. She could get Lunafreya to Duscae before _lunch_ , and hopefully Lestallum by nightfall – or so she assumed they were headed for Lestallum. It was the largest settlement outside of Insomnia.

“Cindy! Cindy, where are ye, girl?! Git yer ass over here!” an old man's voice hollared from somewhere outside.

The blonde woman chuckled, “An' that'll be Pawpaw's flawless timin' ruinin' whut-ever mood I try t'build with a purdy lady,” she complained half-heartedly with a playful wink that had Connie snorting with laughter.

“I think you may need glasses if you think _this_ is 'pretty',” she joked with a half-hearted gesture to her general everything, from the dirty clothes, exhaustion, filthy hair, and general proportions of being overweight. Intellectually she knew that there were people out there that would find her attractive, she'd _had_ boyfriends in the past, a girlfriend once when she was younger and trying to figure herself out, but it was a lot harder to work past the constant barrage of behaviours and snide comments and fat jokes and the endless 'that's not healthy', 'gross', 'thin is fit', 'thin is beautiful', 'we only stock up to size eighteen', and the like from birth to now. She shrugged it off, none of that was important right now, it hadn't even really been important back _then_ , but it seemed so, and even now she knew that was stupid as she laughed off Cindy's well meaning compliment about how under the dirt she was probably very pretty indeed. Pretty, yeah, compared to a Voretooth, anyone was pretty.

With the wallet in hand, she sped through her shopping in the mini-mart, collecting supplies for herself and Lunafreya, ignoring the loud argument that had broken out between grandfather and daughter outside – not that she would have understood a single word with how thick their Keycatrich accents became the more frustrated they both got.

The price of everything, including the items and food-stuffs, came to fifteen thousand gil which she quickly counted and passed over before moving to a clear part of the floor to begin unpackaging and packing them all into the two packs she had for herself and the Princess. She put the majority of the heavy stuff into her own pack, but put the important breakables into Lunafreya's – the Princess was a lot more graceful and agile than she was, more likely to avoid being knocked on her ass, and with that _Shield_ Connie would be even better at preventing that. Though it made it more likely that _she_ would get knocked on her ass instead.

With the help of the shop-assistant they got the discarded packaging separated out into the appropriate bins to be dealt with later and she collected the two bags and left the mini-mart into a full on family feud, with Lunafreya in the middle of it looking distressed.

Connie stared at them, wondering what on _Eos_ had been said.

“Uh... What's going on?” she asked, sidling up to Lunafreya as she presented the filthy young woman with her own pack.

Lunafreya didn't _quite_ pull a face, but it was quite clear she wished to if the way her eyes dropped was an indication, “I asked Mister Sophiar if he would be willing to help us as he helped King Regis in the past. He refused. We spoke, and instead of himself, he offered the services of his granddaughter. I do not.... I am unsure of whether or not this is the right course of action,” she admitted a shade away from miserable with guilt as the two got another grade louder in their arguments.

Connie hummed thoughtfully before nudging her with a shoulder, “Either way, come with me. I need your opinion,” she said, leading the curious woman over to the Cutlass van. “I asked for a gun to be set aside for you, give it a try, see how it fits. I know the – your family have skill with tridents, and thus lances by extension, however they don't have any in stock right now. Do you know how to use it?” she asked.

Lunafreya grimaced, “I do. But, I am not a fan of guns, if I must profess honesty, and nor do I have much skill with them.” She carefully returned the firearm and looked amongst the offered weapons, “May I see the broadsword?” she asked, nodding to the single-handed blade that, despite its name, was not an actual broadsword.

The van owner turned the weapon over to her, and Connie watched with some assurance as the young woman wielded it with a lot more familiarity and comfort than the tiny handgun, her stance was most definitely a fencing one, but not entirely. The only problem was -

“Definitely need new clothes,” Connie repeated with a grimace as the silk of her skirt restricted her movements.

Lunafreya sighed, “Agreed. And yourself too. That is your only set, is it not?” she asked curiously.

Connie shrugged, “It is. But for now my clothes and shoes aren't a hazard to my health. I'll ask Cindy if she's willing to let me buy some stuff for you.”

“No need,” the blonde declared sourly behind them, making Constans jump again, only this time the mechanic didn't even twitch a smile as she pouted grumpily at them. “Pawpaw put his foot down, ah'm barred from th'machine shop unless ah help y'all,” she complained petulantly before eyeing Lunafreya curiously. “Ah ain't never met th'Oracle though, so, ah suppose it can't all be bad. Ah'm sorry y'all had t'see that, yer Highness. Ah love mah Pawpaw, but 'e's an ornary old bastard at th'best a'times, an' ah suppose mah own temper ain't much better,” she conceded with a roll of her eyes. “Now, whut was this y'all were sayin' about askin' me sumthin'?”

“Oh, it is nothing – ” Lunafreya began only to be steamrolled by Constans.

“The lady needs a new change of clothes, only the mini-mart didn't have anything. I was wondering if you had any old clothes you wouldn't mind parting with for a few gil, boots too,” the Insomnian listed.

Cindy nodded, “Ah have a few things that ought'a fit y'all, Highness. C'mon, ah'll show y'all mah room, y'can take yer pick.”

Lunafreya nodded hesitantly before handing Connie the sword she had been wielding, “If I may, this one is comfortable with my abilities,” she admitted and Constans nodded.

“Right, this one it is then. I'll get a harness too. Yourself Cindy, since you're coming with?” she asked curiously, eyeing the blonde woman carefully. She had muscle, but somehow Connie doubted she was a swordswoman.

She was right as the blonde woman laughed and waved her off, “Don't you wurry yer purdy head 'bout me, sugar. Ah got mah own toys upstairs. While her Ladyship gets changed, ah'll get mah own things t'gether,” she promised before leading the other blonde woman away.

Constans bought her two-handed War Sword, Lunafreya's one handed Broadsword, and she also bought the Black Prince Shield she had been eyeing before hand.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is... wholly self-indulgent. 
> 
> I wanted to explore what Lunafreya's journey would be, her adventure because, no offence to Noctis, as a protagonist she seemed more interesting to me. Going through all that shit on her own, travelling from one wartorn corner of a country to the other, healing people as she went, awakening gods within daemon nests and communing with them – which, given if it was anything similar to what Noct had to do with Leviathan, that meant she had to kick their asses first. Alone.
> 
> But then I thought, what if she had her own bros? People to support her. Enter Constans, the first of her entourage. The history teacher who got a little too into the re-enactment side of it so she could accurately talk about battles and get her male teenage students to actually pay attention in class. I wanted someone who would be immediately useful to her by having a knowledge base they could work off, AND some combat skills, without them being intimately connected to the royals. Just an average pleb trying to do the right thing. 
> 
> There will be others, not all of them are going to be OCs, some of them are going to be canon characters. But I couldn't get the whole group I wanted because some of the girls are needed in other places for plot-points. But yeah. Luna's getting her girl-power team, and making the first steps forward on her own adventure.


End file.
